


please respond? (the you're doing fine remix)

by sporadichearttcollector



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Remix, brief mention of tilda + her murder, magic walkie talkie au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2021-01-02 21:47:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21168389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sporadichearttcollector/pseuds/sporadichearttcollector
Summary: “Listening to you talk about your day is about the only thing that gets me through mine, so… thanks.”“Next time, let me be conscious enough to listen to you return the favor.” Andrew replies, and Neil grins widely before turning down the volume and stashing away the walkie.As it turns out, the only person Neil wants to kiss exists solely on the other side of a walkie talkie.





	please respond? (the you're doing fine remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [waterpllar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/waterpllar/gifts).
  * Inspired by [please respond?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20102314) by [waterpllar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/waterpllar/pseuds/waterpllar). 

> for shortbreadd! I saw the summary for please respond? and fell in love almost immediately. I really hope you like it!

Neil clutches the walkie-talkie like a lifeline, listening to the soft murmurs of the boy on the other side. Neil had never expected anyone to find the other, hidden in the soft grass between tree roots in a forest across the world. A forest that had kept the walkie safe until Andrew managed to find it. 

Neil might owe his life to that forest. Listening to Andrew pour his secrets into the walkie as Neil tries desperately to fall asleep, returning the favor some eight or nine hours later when Neil finally has a moment to himself. The little tidbits about Andrew’s day accompany him through his travels, keeping him warm when nothing else is. He knows Andrew probably doesn’t realize that Neil is on the other end, whispering to him while he dreams. 

Sometimes a button will be pressed by accident and Neil hears things that make him want to fly across the world to kill a man the way he has dreamed about killing his father. He nearly cries tears of relief when Andrew tells him that he has gotten away from that poisonous house and its false safety. 

“Aaron and I had ice cream together again,” Andrew murmurs to him, soothing Neil through stitching up his latest injury while his mother disposes of a body. “I think it’s becoming routine, something we do when we can’t sleep. He can never sleep. I can see what the drugs are doing to him, and I hate it. There’s nothing I can do to fix it unless I can get rid of  _ her _ .” 

Neil bites his lip, glancing towards the door before picking it up and pressing the button before he loses his nerve. “Then get rid of her. How hard can it be? She’s already wildly self-destructive.” Neil’s lips curve up at the quiet gasp on the other side. 

“Who are you?” Andrew demands, voice guarded and sharp. “How long have you been listening?”

“The whole time, Andrew.” Neil replies, tying up another suture, wincing as the needle passes through, and how the thread tugs. “I don’t have long to talk, my mom will be back soon and she’ll kill me if she finds out about the radios. I’m Neil, I left that radio with the forest, to keep it safe until the right person found it.”

“The right person?”

“They’re spelled, it's complicated — I  _ really _ don’t have the time to explain it.”

“Why is this the only time you’ve replied?” 

“It’s not, you’re just usually asleep when I do. This is the first time I’ve had anything worth hearing, I guess.” Neil ties off the final suture and carefully taped gauze over it. “Sabotage her car, you said it was a piece of shit anyway. It’ll look like an accident, and you can finally help Aaron get off the drugs.”

“You make it sound like it’s easy.” There’s an edge to Andrew’s voice Neil decides to ignore. 

“It is,” Neil snaps. “It’s simple, easy,  _ and _ you can have Aaron back on track in a matter of months. Look, I’ve got to go, but I’ll try to talk to you again soon.” Neil stands, carefully packing the medical supplies away. He hesitates only a moment before picking up the radio one more time. “Listening to you talk about your day is about the only thing that gets me through mine, so… thanks.”

“Next time, let me be conscious enough to listen to you return the favor.” Andrew replies, and Neil grins widely before turning down the volume and stashing away the walkie. 

Per Andrew’s request, he starts talking into the walkie a bit earlier, and for once he doesn’t lie. Neil’s not sure why, but he doesn’t even regret giving Andrew the truth, that he is on the run from his mobster father, that his mother loves him fiercely but shows it in painful ways, that he kissed a girl but he isn’t sure he ever wants to do it again, and not just because his mother blackened his eye over it. 

As it turns out, the only person Neil wants to kiss exists solely on the other side of a walkie talkie.

~

“It sucks that this was the last game,” Neil murmurs to Andrew, the walkie held close to his mouth. “I wasn’t ready for it to be over.”

“It wouldn’t matter if your shitty team made it all the way to the finals,” Andrew rasps back, voice weirdly echo-y. “You’d never be ready, Junkie.”

“I know,” Neil replies after a moment. “Still. I wish I would get to play again.”

“Join a community team at your next town, Junkie. I have to go, time to deal with this new recruit Kevin’s been freaking out about.” Andrew’s voice softens. “Talk to you later?”

“Always,” Neil doesn’t hold back his grin. After all, it’s not like Andrew is here to see it. “Bye, Andrew!” Neil slides the radio into his bag and stubs out the cigarette just as Coach Hernandez steps into his line of view. 

“Didn’t see your parents here tonight,” Coach comments, pursing his lips. 

“They couldn’t make it,” Neil shrugs, pushing off the wall. “No one knew it was going to be the last game.” 

“Someones here to see you,” Coach tells him.

Neil mentally checks out for the majority of the conversation, and tunes back in long enough to realize it’s time to  _ leave _ and sprints past Coach Wymack, into the locker room with the intent of exiting through the emergency door. He doesn’t make it that far, and his knees make a terrible creaking noise when he hits the floor, doubled over and clutching his stomach. 

Neil doesn’t register the words Coach Wymack speaks because he hears a voice,  _ Andrew’s voice _ , and wheezes, turning his head enough to see blonde hair and a manic grin.

“Better luck next time,” Andrew says, tapping his forehead with a two fingered mock-salute. 

“Fuck you,” Neil gasps. He is pleased to see the way Andrew brow furrows ever so much, because he knows that voice. “Whose racquet did you steal?”

“Neil?” That horrible smile drops right off of Andrew’s face, and his voice is terribly soft. 

“Hey, Andrew,” Neil says softly, carefully pushing himself off of the ground. Andrew crouches down, holding out a hand to help him up. Neil takes it, careful not to squeeze, and lets Andrew tug him up, standing close enough he can feel Andrew’s warm breath against the sensitive skin of his neck. 

“Should have known,” Andrew shakes his head. “What other Exy obsessed idiot would be in the middle of nowhere Arizona.” Neil smiles, watching Andrew’s eyes as he ever so carefully shifts his hand in Andrew’s and intertwines their fingers. 

“I thought you’d be taller,” Neil says. Andrew snorts, squeezing his hand gently. 

“Fuck off,” Andrew snips. “How do I even know it’s you, huh?” Neil shifts his bag and digs through his bag for a moment, then pulls out the walkie. 

“Should I talk about the time you saw a bug in your kitchen and sat on the table for two hours?” Neil asks, snickering at the way Andrew’s lips pull into a sneer.

“Fine, it is you, shut the fuck up.” 

“I can’t believe you’re here,” Neil whispers, raking his eyes over Andrew’s tense form. “I’ve imagined this a million different ways.” Andrew’s ears turn an alarming shade of red.

“I hate you,” he hisses. “Don’t look at me like that.” 

“Like what?” Neil asks. “Like you’re the only person in the world I care about? Because news flash.” 

“Shut up,” Andrew snarls. “Yes or no?” Neil smiles softly, nodding.

“Yes, Andrew.” Neil happily leans in, letting Andrew tuck his face into Neil’s neck and wrapping his arms tightly around Neil’s waist. He sighs quietly, and Neil carefully loops his arms over Andrew’s shoulders.

It feels like coming home. 

Neil doesn’t care that Hernandez and Wymack are both watching, mouths hanging wide open. He doesn’t care about the questions he knows will follow, and he doesn’t care that signing the contract clutched in Wymack’s hand will get him killed.

He doesn’t care about anything but the gentle press of Andrew’s fingers on his spine, and his warm breath on Neil’s neck. 

“You’re safe,” Andrew whispers. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“I know,” Neil murmurs back, closing his eyes and settling his head against Andrew’s. “I trust you.” 

Neil knows it’s a terrible idea, that if he stops running his father’s people will find him and likely kill him, but even the thought of letting Andrew go is appalling. His mother’s words ring in his ears, but Neil ignores it in favor of knotting a few fingers through Andrew’s hair. 

“I’m staying,” Neil whispers eventually, in his own time, when he was damn good and ready to break their warm silence. “I won’t run.”

With Andrew’s arms tight around him, how could he even consider leaving? Neil feels safe for the first time in his life, and he isn’t giving that up if he can help it. Neil knows if he stays with Andrew, everything will be alright. 

It has to be.


End file.
